Visitor Levy for Edinburgh
Posted on: December 9, 2024
We believe that the main objective of the levy is to improve the City of Edinburgh for its resident population, mitigating the impacts of mass tourism in the city. The funds should be aligned to enhance those attributes which entice visitors to the city, namely its heritage and landscape qualities as well as improve the amenity of public assets such as greenspaces and cultural attractions, which would benefit visitors and residents alike.
Since first proposed formally in 2019, the Association has been a supporter of the introduction of a Visitor Levy or Tourist Tax in the city. The Scottish Government introduced a bill in 2023 to enable local authorities to take forward proposals for a “tourist tax”, which resulted in the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024.
The City of Edinburgh Council prepared a scheme under the Act very quickly and has been consulting on it. The formal consultation ends on 15 December 2024.
In general terms, the Association supports the proposals as set out in the consultation and agrees with the three main objectives to the proposed Visitor Levy scheme in Edinburgh:
- To sustain, support and develop public services, programmes and infrastructure;
- To sustain, support and develop Edinburgh’s culture, heritage and festivals provision;
- To sustain, support and develop the city’s visitor economy and to promote sustainable tourism.
Against that, we have concerns with some of the spending proposals under Objective one (public services, programmes and infrastructure). Certainly, improved infrastructure in terms of waste collection, streetscape maintenance and management and enhanced greenspaces fits neatly in this objective, which we would support. We do not support the use of the visitor levy for the delivery of housing or housing maintenance, although we believe that there is a crucial need for increased investment in this area. There are other, more appropriate investment mechanisms.
Investing in the Edinburgh’s townscape as well as its architectural and landscape character should be a significant objective of the levy. Enhancing the cultural offer such as museums and galleries should also feature highly. Core to this is the need to enhance the city for its resident population and businesses, ensuring a liveable and authentic experience for those who visit.
Full consultation response can be found here – Visitor Levy for Edinburgh consultation response (December 2024) as submitted 091224
